Wednesday, October 24, 2007

My window overlooks the harbor and all day long I can watch the moored sailboats rocking in the current and the container ships on their way to and from port, shepherded by stubby tugboats. Every half hour, a green or blue-striped ferry crosses the channel, sometimes empty, sometimes crowded with passengers who stand on the deck, staring backwards at the unfurling wake. I once saw a fleet of three-hulled catamarans idling towards the docks after a race and, in the summer, there's usually at least one tall ship, anachronistically square-rigged, all three masts flying sails.

Everything moves deliberately through the harbor and, if you watch long enough, the message becomes clear. The sea carries all boats and, as long as their hulls clear the shoals, it doesn't matter that the water is darkly opaque, the depths unimaginable. And though from where I sit, I can't read the satellite signals or calculate the lines of position, the sailors always seem to know exactly where they're going.

The photos were taken from the path that runs around the back of the building.

20 comments:

Cool pictures. My office overlooks Lake Michigan and the park/Monroe Harbor. The boats are almost gone from the harbor though. Sometimes I get to work early enough to watch the sun come up over the lake - which is quite beautiful! I have a really deep windowsill - sometimes I sit in it.

Magpie: It's on a little pennisula that juts out into the harbor. If I had a rock (like yours, maybe) and my window could be opened, I might be able to throw it into the water, but more likely would hit one of the people sitting at the tables next to the water.

Jealous but glad I don't have that view because I'd never get any work done. I have four small windows in my classroom with metal grids over them so people can't break into to my classroom. Or is it to keep the students in? Hmmm...